Supply manifold with rotatable slider

ABSTRACT

A manifold has a frame and a plurality of valves supported by the frame, each valve having a cross gear. The manifold also has a screw drive and a splined rotatable shaft parallel to the screw drive. The manifold further includes a slider driven by the screw drive over the splined rotatable shaft. The slider includes an actuator that protrudes from the slider to engage one of the cross gears to actuate a respective one of the plurality of valves.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/877,661 which was filed on Oct. 7, 2015,entitled “Supply Manifold With Rotatable Slider”. U.S. application Ser.No. 14/877,661 claims priority from Canadian Patent Application No.2908193 which was filed on Oct. 6, 2015, entitled “Supply Manifold WithRotatable Slider”, both of which are incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to hydronic heating or coolingsystems and, more particularly, to supply manifolds for hydronic heatingor cooling systems.

BACKGROUND

Hydronic heating or cooling systems deliver warm or cool liquid, e.g.water, through conduits to heat or cool surfaces such as floors (radiantfloor heating/cooling) or walls (radiant wall heating/cooling). Somesuch systems deliver liquid through conduits to multiple zones. Inconventional systems, multiple zone valves are used to regulate the flowof liquid to each of the conduits. In other words, there is one zonevalve for every zone in the dwelling. A problem with these multi-zonehydronic systems is that the supply manifold is complex and expensive,requiring individual actuators to actuate each of the zone valves. U.S.Pat. No. 8,555,926 (MacDuff) entitled Supply Manifold For HydronicSystem discloses a manifold with an actuator that translates along anarray of valves to selectively actuate a desired valve by engaging crossgears attached to the valve. The manifold however employed an solenoidas its actuator, thereby requiring electric wires to travel back andforth with the carriage. An improved actuation mechanism for themanifold is therefore desirable. Improvements to the valve design arealso desirable to provide precise and leak-proof opening and closing.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of some aspects orembodiments of the invention in order to provide a basic understandingof the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of theinvention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements ofthe invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its solepurpose is to present some embodiments of the invention in a simplifiedform as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presentedlater.

The present specification discloses a supply manifold for a hydronicheating or cooling system. The manifold has a slider that is moved by ascrew drive and rides over a splined rotatable shaft whose rotationcauses the slider to actuate a valve of the manifold. The valves of themanifold have cross gears attached to them. The valves have cone-shapedplugs that diverge in a direction away from the cross gears and whichare secured in place by water diverted from the central water passagethrough the valve.

One inventive aspect of the disclosure is a manifold comprising a frame,a plurality of valves supported by the frame, each valve having a crossgear, a screw drive, a splined rotatable shaft parallel to the screwdrive, and a slider driven by the screw drive over the splined rotatableshaft, the slider comprising an actuator that protrudes from the sliderin response to rotation of the splined rotatable shaft to thereby engageone of the cross gears to actuate a respective one of the plurality ofvalves.

Another inventive aspect of the disclosure is a slider for a manifold,the slider comprising a slider housing, a receptacle in the sliderhousing for receiving a screw drive, a splined hole in the slider forreceiving a splined rotatable shaft and an actuator that protrudes fromthe slider in response to rotation of the splined rotatable shaft.

Yet another inventive aspect of the disclosure is a valve for amanifold, the valve comprising an inlet, an outlet, a cross gear mountedto the valve and a cone-shaped plug that tapers outwardly in a directionaway from the cross gear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the disclosure will become more apparentfrom the description in which reference is made to the followingappended drawings.

FIG. 1 is an isometric exploded view of a manifold in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another isometric exploded view of a housing and valveassembly with the valve outlets facing upwardly.

FIG. 3 is another isometric exploded view of a housing and valveassembly with the valve outlets facing downwardly.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the assembled manifold.

FIG. 5 is a side cutaway view of the manifold.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a valve used in the manifold.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the valve.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the valve.

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a slider used in the manifold.

FIG. 10A is an exploded view of a first embodiment of the slider.

FIG. 10B is an exploded view of a second embodiment of the slider.

FIG. 11A is a cutaway view of the first embodiment of the slider withits actuator extended.

FIG. 11B is a cutaway view of the first embodiment of the slider withthe actuator retracted.

FIG. 11C is a cutaway view of the second embodiment of the slider withthe actuator extended.

FIG. 11D is a cutaway view of the second embodiment of the slider withthe actuator retracted.

FIG. 12 is a side cutaway view of the slider and valve assembly with theactuator retracted.

FIG. 13 is a side cutaway view of the slider and valve assembly with theactuator extended.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description contains, for the purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific embodiments, implementations, examplesand details in order to provide a thorough understanding of theinvention. It is apparent, however, that the embodiments may bepracticed without these specific details or with an equivalentarrangement. In other instances, some well-known structures and devicesare shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the embodiments of the invention. The description should in noway be limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, andtechniques illustrated below, including the exemplary designs andimplementations illustrated and described herein, but may be modifiedwithin the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope ofequivalents.

One exemplary embodiment of the novel supply manifold is depicted inFIGS. 1-13. It should be understood that this exemplary embodimentrepresents only one way of implementing this technology. In other words,many variations, modifications and refinements may be made to themechanisms presented herein without departing from the fundamentalinventive concept(s).

In the embodiment shown by way of example in FIG. 1, a supply manifoldgenerally designated by reference numeral 10 has a frame 12 (e.g. achannel-shaped member as shown by way of example in FIG. 1 or anyequivalent bracket, base or support) and a generally U-shaped manifoldhousing 14 (or cover or case). A pair of side panels 16 enclose themanifold on each side (although only one such panel 16 is shown in FIG.1). The side panel 16 has a mount 18 for supporting a drive screw 20 anda splined rotatable shaft 22. The drive screw and splined rotatableshaft are parallel to each other. The drive screw displaces a slider 30whereas the splined rotatable shaft acts as a linear guide for theslider. As will be described below in greater detail, the splinedrotatable shaft 22 also functions to rotate an actuator within theslider to actuate a desired valve, i.e. to open or close a desiredvalve.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slider 30 (which carries the actuator) isdisplaced along the screw drive 20. The screw drive 20 comprises anelongated screw-type drive shaft in the form of a threaded rod orthreaded shaft. The actuator, which is carried by the slider 30, isshaped to engage a cross gear 40 connected to a respective valve 50.Rotation of the cross gear causes rotation of the valve to which it isconnected. As the slider 30 is advanced by the screw drive 20, theactuator selectively protrudes to engage and rotate the cross gear by anangle of ninety degrees (i.e. one quarter turn). This quarter-turnrotation causes the quarter-turn valve 50 to open (if it was closed) orto close (if it was open). Once the cross gear has been rotated onequarter turn the actuator is disengaged from the cross gear. The screwdrive 20 can be then actuated to move the slider (and its actuator) toanother valve for opening or closing as desired. The slider 30 can thusbe displaced to any desired one of the inline valves 50 by the screwdrive 20. Once the screw drive 20 has positioned the slider 30 in thedesired position, the actuator in the slider 30 actuates/engages thegear cross connected to the valve to open or close the valve.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the manifold 10 includes a pluralityof valves 50 and a plurality of respective cross gears 40. The valves 50are quarter-turn plug valves or alternatively quarter-turn ball valves.These valves can be opened or closed by a ninety-degree rotation of theplug or ball inside the valve. In the illustrated embodiment, the valves50 are arranged in an inline arrangement, i.e. side by side and equallyspaced apart. Although there are four outlets (and four valves) in themanifold depicted by way of example in FIG. 1, the number of valves 50in the manifold 10 and/or their relative spacing may be varied in otherembodiments.

As shown in FIG. 1, a water supply tube 60 is in orthogonal fluidcommunication with the valves 50. Water from the water supply tube 60enters an inlet 52 of the valve 50 and, if the valve is open, flows outof the valve through an outlet 54. Each of the valves 50 can be openedor closed independently. The manifold 10, when used in a hydronicheating or cooling system, can thus control the flow of water to any oneor more of the zones of the dwelling or building in which the hydronicsystem is installed. In other words, the water supply tube 60 receives aheating liquid for a hydronic heating system (or a cooling liquid for ahydronic cooling system) from a upstream source that is not shown in thefigures. The tube 60 may be copper tubing with a flat upper surface orany equivalent tube, pipe or conduit.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the manifold housing 14 has achannel-like portion adapted to receive and retain a circuit board, e.g.a printed circuit board (PCB) on which various electronic sensors may bedisposed. The PCB may include slider positioning sensors to sense aposition of the slider. The PCB may include cross gear positioningsensors that sense the position (or angular orientation) of the crossgears (indicative of whether the valves are open or closed).

The manifold may be assembled with the outlets 54 facing upwardly, asdepicted in FIG. 2, or with the outlets 54 facing downwardly, asdepicted in FIG. 3. When assembled, the outlets 54 protrude beyond themanifold housing 14 as shown by way of example in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 alsodepicts an example of an external controller 19 (which may be amicrocontroller, microprocessor, printed circuit board, etc). Thecontroller 19 can interact wirelessly or via wires with the manifold toopen and close the valves.

As shown by way of example in FIG. 5, the cross gear 40 attached to eachrespective valve has four semicircular receptacles or semicircularrecesses 42 (or arc-shaped zones) for receiving the round tip of theactuator carried by the slider. On each side of the receptacles 42 areconcave surfaces 46 that terminate in one of four pointed tips 44. Thisconstruction ensures that the actuator cannot get stuck on the crossgear. In other words, regardless where the actuator engages along thesurface of the cross gear, the actuator will be forced into properengagement with one of the four receptacles 42. Because the valves inthe manifold are in a linear arrangement, the actuator can be moved toaccess any desired valve by simply translating the slider back and forthusing the screw drive. Since the valves are quarter-turn valves, it doesnot matter whether the actuator engages from the left or from the rightto either open or close any given valve.

In the embodiment depicted by way of example in FIG. 5, a first electricmotor 15 drives the screw drive 20. A second electric motor 17 drivesthe splined rotatable shaft 22.

FIGS. 6-8 depict one of the valves 50. Each valve 50 has a valve body 51defining a central water passageway 53 or conduit from the inlet 52 tothe outlet 54. The cross gear 40, which was introduced earlier, ismounted to a respective disk 49. The disk 49 sits between a neck 70 ofthe valve body 51 and the cross gear 40. Each disk 49 has a pair ofmagnets 48 to enable a sensor to sense an orientation of each of thecross gears. The magnets 48 may be attached to two diametrically opposedtips of the cross gear. The magnets 48 are detectable by a sensorconnected to a microcontroller. The microcontroller (or microprocessor)can then determine a position of the cross gear 48 of the valve 50 basedon the magnets. Any suitable control system and control algorithm can beadapted to operate this mechanism. The control system may be implementedin hardware, software, firmware or any suitable combination thereof.

FIG. 8 depicts a water-diversion channel 55 in the valve 50. The channel55 diverts water to exert pressure on a cone-shaped (or frusto-conical)plug 56 a fitted into the plug-receiving space 56 inside the valve 50.This pressure secures the cone-shaped plug inside the valve. Whensecured in its proper position in the plug-receiving space 56, the plug56 a provides a fluid-tight seal to minimize leakage. A water volume 57is defined by the space between the plug 56 a and a cap 58 and O-ring59. The plug has a circular bore passing through its frusto-conicalbody. Its upper surface has a slot for receiving a stem, as will beexplained below in greater detail.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-8, the cone-shaped plug 56 a tapersoutwardly in a direction away from the cross gear. The outward taper maybe a nonlinear taper as shown. The angle of the taper is 10-25 degrees,preferably 17-18 degrees and more preferably 17.5 degrees. The plug maybe made of Teflon®, i.e. polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or any otherequivalent or suitable material. The valve body may be made ofhigh-temperature nylon or any other equivalent or suitable material,optionally with a solid film lubricant such as, for example, a Teflonfilm or any other suitable dry film lubricant.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-8, the neck 70 has an internal cavityfor receiving a stem 72 which is fastened to the cross gear and disk bya threaded fastener 74, e.g. a machine screw. A pair of floating O-ringsare disposed between the stem and the internal wall of the neck. Thestem is connected to the plug 56 a such that rotation of the stem causesrotation of the plug. In one specific embodiment, the plug 56 a has aslot for receiving a bottom of the stem to enable the stem to exerttorque on the plug.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-8, the valve body 51 has first andsecond externally threaded ends 78, 80. Into the first end 78 (on theoutlet side) a nipple-type adaptor 82 is inserted with an O-ring 84between the adaptor and an annular groove surrounding the water conduit.A first nut 86 threads onto the externally threaded end 78 to secure thenipple-type adaptor in place. O-rings 88 may be disposed in respectiveannular grooves on the outer periphery of the nipple-type adaptor. Intothe second end 80 (on the inlet side) a threaded adaptor 90 is insertedwith an O-ring 92 between the flange-like face of the adaptor 90 and anannular groove surrounding the water conduit. Another O-ring 94 isdisposed on an outside shoulder of the adaptor 90. A second nut 96 isthreaded over the externally threaded end 80 to secure the adaptor inplace.

FIGS. 9-13 depict the slider 30. The slider 30 includes a slider housing31, a receptacle or hole 32 in the slider housing for receiving thescrew drive described earlier and a splined hole 33 in the slider forreceiving the splined rotatable shaft described earlier. In theillustrated embodiment, the splined hole 33 is provided by two splinedinserts 33 that fit rotationally into the side walls of the sliderhousing. The inserts rotate freely within the holes in the side walls.The slider 30 includes an actuator 34 that is capable of protruding fromthe slider in response to rotation of the splined rotatable shaft. Theslider housing 31 has a pivot arm 35 holding the actuator 34. The pivotarm 35 is rotationally movable from a retracted position inside theslider housing 31 to an extended position protruding from the sliderhousing 31. The pivoting arm 35 pivots about a pivot axis defined by atransverse bore 35 a in the pivot arm that receives a pivot shaft 35 bor pin that is rotationally supported by holes in the slider housing (asshown in FIG. 10A). The pivoting arm 35 that holds the actuator 34comprises an internally splined cam 36 aligned with the splined inserts33. The splined cam 36 rotates with the splined shaft to cause thepivoting arm to pivot about a pivot axis, thereby causing the actuatorto protrude (or retract) from the slider housing. The actuator 34 mayinclude a cylindrical roller bearing 34 a (in the form of an annulus)fastened by a threaded fastener 34 b to the pivoting arm 35. The bearing34 a in the illustrated embodiment has a diameter that matches that ofthe semicircular recesses in the cross gear. The bearing 34 a may bemounted over a spacer 34 c (or equivalent circular lip or ridge) asshown by way of example in FIG. 10A to space the bearing from the pivotarm 35.

In the embodiment depicted by way of example in FIGS. 9-13, the slider30 comprises a magnet 37 for position sensing. The magnet may bedisposed in a magnet receptacle 38 as depicted for example in FIGS. 10A,10B and FIGS. 11A-11B.

The splined cam 36 rotates eccentrically within the space 39 to causethe pivoting arm to rotate 35 from a retracted position (FIG. 11B) to anextended position (FIG. 11A) or vice versa. In a second embodiment,which is illustrated in FIGS. 11C and 11D, the splined inserts 33(“bushings”) have a square end 33 a that locks against a square block 33b on each side of the slider body 31. This limits the motor so it canonly turn the splined inserts no more than 180 degrees. In a variant,the 180-degree stop(s) could be also placed on either end (or both ends)of the splined drive shaft 22. The second embodiment with the square end33 a is believed to be a better mechanism than the first embodiment.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show the interaction of the slider 30 with the rest ofthe manifold 10. In FIG. 12 the actuator 34 of the slider 30 isretracted such that it is not visible in this view. The actuator 34 isretracted within the slider housing 31. There is accordingly a gapbetween the slider 30 and the cross gear 40. In FIG. 13, the actuator 34is shown engaged with the cross gear 40.

It should be understood that the manifold 10 depicted in FIGS. 1-13 ispresented by way of example only. This particular design of the manifoldis believed to be the best mode of implementing the present inventionbut it should be appreciated that many variations in the mechanism(s)may be made without departing from the inventive concept(s) presentedherein. For example, the splined shaft may be replaced by a keyed shaft.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a device” includes reference to one ormore of such devices, i.e. that there is at least one device. The terms“comprising”, “having”, “including” and “containing” are to be construedas open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”)unless otherwise noted. All methods described herein can be performed inany suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwiseclearly contradicted by context. The use of examples or exemplarylanguage (e.g. “such as”) is intended merely to better illustrate ordescribe embodiments of the invention and is not intended to limit thescope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limitedto the details given herein. For example, the various elements orcomponents may be combined or integrated in another system or certainfeatures may be omitted, or not implemented.

In addition, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and could be made without departing from the inventive concept(s)disclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A valve for a manifold, the valvecomprising: a valve body having an inlet, an outlet and a centralpassageway between the inlet and the outlet; a cross gear rotatablymounted to the valve body; a disk to which the cross gear is mounted,the disk comprising magnets to enable a sensor to sense an orientationof the cross gear; a cone-shaped plug connected via a stem to the crossgear, wherein the cone-shaped plug tapers outwardly in a direction awayfrom the cross gear; a cap attached to a bottom of the valve body todefine a space containing a water volume between the cone-shaped plugand the cap; and a water diversion channel extending from the inlet tothe space between the cone-shaped plug and the cap to divert water fromthe inlet to the space between the cone-shaped plug and the cap forexerting pressure on the cone-shaped plug in the valve to enable thecone-shaped plug to provide a fluid-tight seal.
 2. The valve of claim 1wherein the cone-shaped plug has an angle of taper of 10-25 degrees. 3.The valve of claim 1 wherein the cone-shaped plug has an angle of taperof 17-18 degrees.
 4. The valve of claim 1 wherein the cone-shaped plughas a nonlinear taper.
 5. The valve of claim 1 wherein the cone-shapedplug is made of polytetrafluoroethylene.
 6. The valve of claim 1 whereinthe valve body is made of nylon.
 7. The valve of claim 1 furthercomprising an O-ring between the cap and the valve body.
 8. The valve ofclaim 1 further comprising a neck supporting the disk.
 9. The valve ofclaim 8 further comprising a pair of floating O-rings disposed betweenthe stem and an internal wall of the neck.
 10. A valve comprising: avalve body having a neck, an inlet, an outlet and a central waterpassageway between the inlet and the outlet; a cross gear rotatablymounted via a stem to the valve body, wherein the stem extends throughthe neck; a disk to which the cross gear is mounted, the disk comprisingmagnets to enable a sensor to sense an orientation of the cross gear; afrusto-conical plug connected via the stem to the cross gear, whereinthe frusto-conical plug tapers outwardly in a direction away from thecross gear; a cap attached to a bottom of the valve body to define aspace containing a water volume between the frusto-conical plug and thecap; and a water diversion channel extending from the inlet to the spacebetween the frusto-conical plug and the cap to divert water from theinlet to the space between the frusto-conical plug and the cap forexerting pressure on the frusto-conical plug to enable thefrusto-conical plug to provide a fluid-tight seal.
 11. The valve ofclaim 10 wherein the frusto-conical plug has an angle of taper of 10-25degrees.
 12. The valve of claim 10 wherein the frusto-conical plug hasan angle of taper of 17-18 degrees.
 13. The valve of claim 10 whereinthe frusto-conical plug has a nonlinear taper.
 14. The valve of claim 10wherein the frusto-conical plug is made of polytetrafluoroethylene. 15.The valve of claim 10 wherein the valve body is made of nylon.
 16. Thevalve of claim 10 further comprising an O-ring between the cap and thevalve body.
 17. The valve of claim 10 further comprising a pair offloating O-rings disposed between the stem and an internal wall of theneck.
 18. The valve of claim 10 wherein the frusto-conical plug has aslot for receiving a bottom of the stem to enable the stem to exerttorque on the frusto-conical plug.